Paranormal Peeps
Paranormal Peeps
Slaps, Heckles, and Hazelnuts: Inside the Bell Witch Saga
The story of the Bell Witch stands as America's most vicious haunting—a tale so disturbing it's hard to believe it happened at all. Long before ghost hunting apps and night vision cameras, this malevolent spirit terrorized a frontier family with shocking physical power and psychological cruelty.
When respected farmer John Bell spotted a strange creature in his Tennessee cornfield in 1817, he couldn't have imagined it would lead to years of torment. What began as mysterious knocking quickly escalated into something unprecedented—an entity that could speak, recite scripture, and physically attack both family members and visitors. The Bells' teenage daughter Betsy endured the worst—being pinched, slapped, and having her hair pulled until she broke off her engagement, seemingly the entity's goal all along.
What makes this case extraordinary isn't just the physical phenomena but the intelligence behind it. "Kate," as the entity called herself, displayed preferences and vendettas. She tormented John Bell relentlessly while showing kindness only to his wife Lucy. She quoted Bible passages that stumped ministers and revealed private secrets that sent visitors fleeing. Even future President Andrew Jackson allegedly encountered her power when his wagon wheels mysteriously locked on approach to the Bell property. After witnessing his men being tormented, Jackson reportedly declared he'd "rather fight the British than the Bell Witch."
The haunting culminated with John Bell's death in 1820, when a mysterious black liquid appeared in the medicine cabinet—liquid that killed a cat instantly when tested. As mourners gathered for Bell's funeral, Kate's mocking laughter echoed through the cemetery, a final act of cruelty that cemented this case as uniquely malevolent. Whether demonic entity, vengeful spirit, or something else entirely, the Bell Witch remains paranormal history's most compelling mystery. Next time you hear knocking at night, remember—it could be more than just the wind.
Thank you for listening to the Paranormal Peeps Podcast. Check us out on Twitter @CPRParanormal on Facebook Paranormal Peeps Podcast or Coldspot Paranormal Research and on Instagram coldspot_paranormal_research
Between the realm of the dead and the journeys of the living. Join Josh, jamie and Elisa as they delve into the vast world of the paranormal and breathe life back into the history of the departed.
Josh:Hey everybody, Welcome back to the Paranormal Peeps podcast. I'm Josh.
Jamey:I'm Elisa and I'm Jamie.
Josh:And we switched it up on you all.
Jamey:Keep you on your toes. Mixed them up, we've got a great episode for everybody this week.
Josh:You all Okay, Keep you on your toes Mixed them up. We've got a great episode for everybody this week. We are going to be talking about what Elisa.
Jamey:The bell witch Yay.
Josh:So it's a witch that lives inside of a bell like a genie.
Jamey:Sure is Cool. Well, and the great thing about this is we're kind of trying something different. So Elisa actually did all the research on it and has all the information on it, whereas Josh and I know very little about it because we didn't do any of the research.
Aleca:So we're going to get real raw reactions.
Josh:And a little sarcasm.
Jamey:Okay a lot of sarcasm.
Aleca:I actually have a little sarcasm in this, oh cool. See, I actually have a little sarcasm in this, oh cool.
Josh:See, All right. So the first question is is it a silver bell?
Aleca:or a brass bell, or a copper bell, or is it a cow bell? Oh, totally cow. More cow bell, I mean we're setting ourselves up in like 1800s, so definitely cow bell, cow bell.
Josh:Yes, we need more cow bell.
Aleca:If you know, you know All right. Paranormal peeps lean in close to the fire. It's late, the woods are quiet and tonight I've got one of the oldest, meanest, sassiest hauntings ever told on American soil, classiest hauntings ever told on american soil. Forget polite floating white lady ghosts. This one bites, slaps, mocks and straight up heckles you at your own funeral. This story is of the bell witch. Are you ready? I'm ready. Did I set?
Jamey:this up good enough.
Josh:Yes, I'm invested, let's go I got my popcorn, let's do this.
Aleca:Okay Now, if you have heard of Every Ghost Story before, I promise you you haven't. This one is different. It's a tale from the early 1800s, before electricity, before TikTok, ghost hunters, before even Scooby-Doo, had a van Out in Adams, tennessee. A hardworking family thought they were living the best frontier life until something dark decided to move in and oh, this wasn't your run of the mill. Knock three times. Kind of ghost. No, this had personality, opinions and a vendetta and, believe it or not, a sense of humor. If ghosts had a Yelp review, this one would be five stars for creativity, minus 10 stars for being a total nightmare roommate. But grab your marshmallows, maybe sit with your back against a tree so nothing stinks up behind you, because here we go, and kids were friendly and welcoming. They helped neighbors all the time, opening their door to anyone in need.
Aleca:John was a hard worker and known not to give up on a project until the work was done, and he did it well. He was a farmer with a growing family of six children, and John decided that their farm in North Carolina was too small. So they packed up their wagon, traveled over 600 miles west to find a good patch of land and find it. He did A thousand acres along the Red River in northern Tennessee, in rural Robertson County. So picture Tennessee in the early 1800s Wild country, big forests, farmland stretching out and neighbors few, far in between. There were so few people that they all worked together to create a town from literally the ground up. John started clearing out the property on the hill, cutting down trees, and with those trees he built the family a one and a half story home close to the Red River. The Red River was known as the place to fish and play for the people in the town, so the Bells were always seeing the neighborhood families and making friends. Pretty quick they became pretty well known. The Bells were well off for the time Big farmhouse, plenty of kids, which back then was basically Netflix before Netflix, and they raised crops, had a big church community and John was even a deacon. Folks respected him and they raised crops, had a big church community and John was even a deacon. Folks respected him and by all accounts the Bells were set up for a perfect pioneer life. John would be the first one awake and so he would get the kids up and walk together through the woods to get to school. While the kids were at school, john and the older boys would work the land. They helped build structures around the town to build up the settlement. They would also build boats that they would use to transport tobacco and meat that they produced on their farm for trade. They would go on to have three more kids after moving to their new home. Not too much time passed before the older children started getting married and building their own homes close by.
Aleca:But there was the thing about big, beautiful farmland. You never know what was there before, whose footsteps walked in, whose bones might be buried under it or who might still be hanging around. It all started in the summer of 1817, 13 years after they arrived in the Robertson County. John Bell was alone out walking his property in the cornfields by his house, where he spotted something strange. Now, this is a man used to wildlife Wolves, foxes, panthers even but this, this was different. He saw a creature crouched between the rows of corn. From the body down it looked like a big dog, but then, when it turned its head, it almost looked like it had the face of a rabbit, but he chalked it up to being a giant dog. It wasn't uncommon to see dogs running around the settlement, but this one made him feel different. It also looked as if the bones were broken over and over and set wrong, making them go in different angles. The dog was looking straight at him, not breaking eye contact, and this made him feel totally unsettled and started to panic. John luckily had his rifle with him. So John did what any good pioneer would do he raised his gun, fired one bullet at the giant dog. When he did that, the dog took off, running into the forest tree line and John watched until he couldn't see it anymore. He jogged over to the place where the giant dog sat down and he saw nothing, no impressions in the corn. He was fully expecting to see the corn press down where the dog had been. So he looked to see if there were any tracks of the animal. Nothing, it's like it wasn't even there. Baffled at how this was even possible, he stopped and thought oh well, I'm thinking too much into this, this is probably just a big dog. Confused, john just walked back home After that sighting.
Aleca:John would write it off, but later would go back and say this is where it all started. But not long after, at night, when they would go to bed, they started hearing knocks on the outside walls of the house. They would get up to see what it was. But then it would stop Not being able to find out what it was. They would just go back to bed and it would start up again. On another side of the house it was like there was something or someone walking around outside knocking on the walls.
Aleca:John thought for sure that this was a prankster trying to scare them. He told all of his family to not mention it to anyone in the town because he didn't want the prankster to know he was onto them. He wanted them to come back so that he could catch them in the act. But over the next several weeks the tapping continued and John would stay awake and every time the knocking started he would run out to see who was there. But there would be no one and no tracks. I mean, if it were me, I would be waiting outside, yeah.
Josh:Ambush it, trap it something right.
Aleca:Yeah, like I wouldn't be in the house hoping to find something out. No Outside, I'd be out there waiting In the house hoping to find something out. No Outside. I'd be out there waiting Because I feel like you're gaining a step Mm-hmm. Having to run outside when you can already be out there, right, but I can also see like chalking up the seeing the whole dog thing.
Jamey:I would probably chalk it up to and letting it go. Well, you know, and when we see things like that and we don't know what it is, we try to explain it away like, oh, it's just a dog, or it's just a you know what I mean.
Aleca:So like I totally don't blame him.
Jamey:Yeah.
Aleca:Almost one year later from when he first saw the giant dog in the cornfield, and a few months after the knocking started, it was May. On a Sunday night in 1818. Four of their sons were sleeping in bunk beds, with the two older sons on the lower bunks and the two younger ones on the top. They woke up to the sound of a rat chewing on one of their bedposts. The older boys instantly got up to find this rat, but as soon as they did, the sound totally disappeared.
Aleca:The boys searched all over the room but they never found it. They checked all of the beds and there wasn't any sign a rat had been chewing on the bedposts. The older boys shrugged it off and went back to bed, but as soon as they closed their eyes the chewing sound would start up again, but now it was louder and more frantic. Like this rat was desperately trying to get through the bedpost Again. The boys hurried and got up to find out what was making that sound, but as soon as their feet hit the floor the sound stopped and the room was silent. The older two boys searched the room again, but to no avail. There was no sign of any animal and no marks on the beds. I feel like there is a pattern.
Jamey:I'm starting to see one. Yeah, just a little bit.
Josh:It's like I'm going to mess with you.
Aleca:Leaving the boys so confused and they didn't know what to think. The sound would continue for the rest of the night and again the night after that, not allowing the boys to sleep. But after the third night the boys heard a different sound in their room. They go to bed totally exhausted, not being able to sleep because the last couple nights they hear what sounds like someone under their beds being choked. They're gasping for air and clawing at the bottom side of their bed. Okay, that would freak me out. The two older boys got the courage to jump out of bed to see what was chasing these sounds and as soon as their feet hit the floor, the sound stops and the room was silent. But this time the boys had had enough. This really freaked them out. They woke up the rest of the family and the whole family searched the entire house looking for anything that could have been making these sounds, but they came up empty-handed. Nothing was out of the ordinary no marks, no animals, no evidence.
Aleca:As time went on, things started happening with the family. There was scratching at the windows, invisible chains being dragged across the wooden floors. The kids' blankets would be ripped off clean as they slept, as if invisible hands yanked them away. At first the Bell family thought they were just dealing with the bumps in the night. But then it started talking in a raspy, croaking woman's voice. It quoted scripture, it sang hymns, and sometimes it laughed and other times it mocked and eventually it introduced itself. It was kate. The townspeople thought it was all because of their neighborhood or their neighbor, kate bats.
Aleca:Kate was known to be very eccentric and very unpleasant. She was known to be cursed or unlucky. Her, her husband had become disabled and all three of her children died at a young age. When Kate would talk she would use big words but use them inappropriately. So everything she said sounded off and said that she was the spirit of Kate Batts, the strange neighborhood woman who thought John Bell cheated her in a land deal. But others said it was a demon in disguise and the family's youngest daughter, betsy. She started getting the worst of it.
Aleca:Poor Betsy was just a teenager when this thing zeroed in on her. It pinched her arms until bruises bloomed. It pulled her hair. It slapped her across the face hard enough that her cheeks would sting and wilts appeared, and when she tried to get some rest the voice would hiss insults in her ear. Imagine trying to be a teenage girl in the 1800s. You're already dealing with long skirts, suitors with questionable hygiene, and now you've got a ghost ruining your beauty sleep. And speaking of suitors, betsy had a sweetheart named Joshua Gardner. The two were sweet on each other, walking through fields, probably carving hearts into trees, but every time Joshua came around, the spirit ramped up its torment.
Aleca:When she became engaged to Joshua Gardner, the spirit went ballistic. It taunted them consistently, repeating their private conversations and yanking Betsy's hair and threatening Joshua. Finally, betsy broke off the engagement, saying she couldn't endure the torment anymore. Almost immediately, the attacks lessened. It was as though this thing had gotten what it wanted all along. But what is odd is Kate hated everyone except for Lucy. Lucy, the mom, was spared from torment. When she fell ill, the witch brought her apples and hazelnuts, urging her to eat and regain strength. Out of everyone in the family, lucy alone received kindness. The spirit clearly had favorites Another reminder that this wasn't a random violence. This was personal. But whoever or whatever Kate was, she wasn't shy. She loved an audience, and the Bell's Farmhouse basically became the 1800s version of a haunted tourist attraction. I mean really, though, because they don't have anything else to do. You know what I mean. Like they gotta have entertainment somehow and this would be perfect entertainment for a neighborhood.
Jamey:I would so be like Pretending like I was sweeping my door stoop, sweeping the hay away Out of the threshold, and kind of Looking over Right what?
Josh:are you doing over there?
Aleca:I'm not doing anything. I'm just sweeping my threshold here. What?
Josh:you got going on over there. Can I, can I, can I see, which is? It's honestly surprising, though, that they become so much of a spectacle because, like in that period of time the religious nature of the country, most people would have figured at the point it was a demon and that they were cursed and that there would be there'd be a lot of fear. There'd be a lot of fear and the like. The church would have gotten involved.
Jamey:Yeah.
Josh:It's strange that they didn't that, didn't get involved in that way.
Jamey:Just wait, they treated it like Zach Bagans museum.
Josh:Yeah, Although I would be like give me an apple.
Aleca:Bring me an apple, and it'd say go eat an apple.
Josh:Oh see, this is where it all started. This is where go eat an apple all started.
Jamey:Right.
Josh:It started with the bell witch.
Jamey:Yep.
Josh:And because now she's like go eat an apple, can't bring you one now, but go eat one, go eat one.
Jamey:So yeah again if you like, go eat an apple. Can't bring you one now, but go eat one, go eat one. So yeah again, if you know, you know, yep.
Aleca:Now, at this point the kids couldn't sleep. They would lay awake all night afraid of what was going to happen or what they would hear. John decided it was time for outside help. He went to his next door neighbor, whom he was closest to, and confided in him what was going on. Now, john was the kind of person who didn't tell jokes or make things up, and so the neighbors actually took him pretty seriously.
Aleca:The neighbor told him that he would spend the night at his house to see if he could experience it and hear any of these strange sounds. He got what he was asking for. He would hear the knocking on the house from outside, the chewing on the bedposts and a person that was choking and gasping for air. He was so scared he didn't even last the whole night and he would take his things and leave. Word of the haunting spread fast, and because the bells were so important to the settlement, everyone was actually really supportive and wanted to rally behind them to see if they could help out this family. They were hoping, if they could take turns staying over there, that they would feel more comfortable with other people around, and also that hopefully, their presence would make it so that the crazy things that were happening would stop, would make it so that the crazy things that were happening would stop now, which is happens actually a lot, because when things would ever happen to me is because I was alone. But if other people came around, nothing would ever happen.
Josh:yeah, so I can see where they would get that from yeah, the the logic makes sense and plus it's always nice to have someone else. It's comforting to have someone outside come in and hang out with you.
Aleca:And also to get a break. Hopefully, get a break so that you could actually sleep.
Josh:Yeah, that would be. They should have done a house swap though. Hey, I'll stay in your house, you can come sleep in my house, that way you can sleep tonight.
Aleca:I, I'd be down. So enter the williams family. They stayed over one night, probably thinking it would be a hoot like the 19th century ghost hunting sleepover. But as soon as the lamps were out, the scratching and knocking began. Everyone lay stiff in their bed, trying to act brave and then whap. Miss Williams screamed and they re-lit the lamp and a bright red handprint glowed on her cheek, dude.
Josh:Slap that one man.
Aleca:So that was enough for the Williams crew, and they didn't wait for sunrise. You can take a guess, run they grabbed their things well, most of their things and they bolted. The next morning the bells found their quilts still crumpled on the floor where they had dropped them. They literally just picked it up and ran I mean that I can understand.
Josh:I mean I think most of us have been touched like ghosts on an investigation.
Jamey:Yeah, but. But to be slapped like right across the face To where there's a visible hand mark on your face and everybody hears a whack.
Josh:Yeah, I mean, that is hard.
Jamey:People with you or not, I'd be out of there too.
Josh:You ever wonder, though, if like one of the kids is like, I'm going to get them.
Jamey:Just walks up, sneaks up there in the middle of the night and, just like wham, I swear it wasn't me.
Aleca:Didn't do it no-transcript and the husband gets up and he looks at his wife, but then he realizes oh, she's sleeping. So he's looking around like what blanket over her and like I'm gonna have to try that right. So right after the williams family left the witch of so at this time they're calling her a witch she spent the day mocking them by repeating Mrs Williams' scream in perfect imitation.
Jamey:That's freaky.
Aleca:That is freaky to me because I've heard my own voice before, yeah, a few times and it kind of throws you off guard. But to hear someone else who has already left and re-hear their scream.
Jamey:Yeah.
Aleca:Like uh-uh, nope, nope, nope, no thanks.
Josh:Yeah, it's creepy.
Aleca:So another visitor, a farmer from the area. He came by, insisting he wasn't scared. So he mocked the bells for believing such nonsense. He wasn't scared. So he mocked the bells for believing such nonsense. And that night the witch began loudly reciting one of his deepest, most private secrets, a secret no one should have known. We don't know what it is, but the bell said that his face turned bright red and he stormed out, never came back and refused to talk about it for the rest of his life.
Josh:And neither did his sheep.
Aleca:And what did the witch do? She cackled all night like it was the best stand-up she's ever done. That's always something that would be like make you don't tell people's private secrets and like obviously she doesn't care.
Josh:No, no, no, she does not care. Well, it does not care.
Aleca:So, ministers came, here comes your intro to the church. Ministers came hoping to shut the entity down with scripture. One preacher challenged it to recite a Bible verse, thinking it would fumble. Instead, the witch rattled off entire passages flawlessly, then broke into mocking hymns until the minister gave up. And the witch wasn't even just a ghost, it was a theologian and a heckler rolled into one.
Aleca:And it didn't matter, no matter who came over or who tried to help, it wouldn't stop. Soon people would try to come up with explanations as to what was causing everything to happen, like maybe it was one of the younger girls doing it to get attention, or maybe there was a family or a person that really hated the Bell family and targeted them, even to the stretch that maybe someone in the town learned ventriloquism and could throw their voice to make it sound like as if it was coming from a different spot in the town learned ventriloquism and could throw their voice to make it sound like as if it was coming from a different spot in the room and not from their body, just to mess with the bell family. Now, is that even a thing?
Josh:it is a thing, throwing your voice is a thing, but that would mean that this individual is like hiding under their house every night for like two years see I would be like, okay, who's sleeping all day long right and not coming out, and only coming out at night.
Aleca:Like who's this person?
Josh:in town, did you check under the floorboards to see if there's people living under there? Because at this point in time you got to wonder right.
Aleca:so the townspeople would search the bell's house with them, and no one ever found what could be causing any of what was going on. The townspeople even watched each member of the Bell family as they slept to see if anyone was responsible for these sounds. But sure enough, even though they were being watched and the family was asleep, the sounds would start, and they saw that no one in the Bell family was doing this, so the Bell family was just forced to deal with it. Now, back then it wasn't like you could just get up and move. That's not how it worked.
Josh:Yeah.
Aleca:But I would be freaking. Working on building another house is what I'd be doing At the very least right. They got a thousand acres, man Go somewhere else.
Josh:Yeah, you got some extra land, yeah.
Aleca:Go somewhere else and find so. A neighbor named William Porter came and said that the witch climbed into his bed with him one night. Horrified, he tried to wrestle it out of his sheets, describing its body as cold and slimy and heavy. He dragged it toward the fireplace but just as he was about to throw it in poof, it vanished. And later, while he was driving his mule cart, the witch struck again and the mules froze, no matter how hard he whipped those reins. Then his cart lifted into the air yes, lifted before slamming it back down. Porter screamed, bolted on foot and abandoned the cart, and the witch's voice trailed after him, laughing the entire way. She got some power.
Jamey:That girl's Like seriously, yeah, trailed after him laughing the entire way.
Josh:she got some power that girls like seriously yeah pick up the cart seriously well yeah, and we're not talking, like you know, a plastic wagon cart.
Aleca:We're talking something that's probably a good 150 pounds at least, and that doesn't include if it's loaded well, the person sitting on it, well yeah so you're probably looking at probably four or five hundred pounds well, I mean, I've seen, I've seen where um people are at a table and the table lifts right, but that's probably the heaviest object I've seen be lifted but but a table's like 10 pounds, like it's no, no, like a heavy wooden table, like okay so maybe like 20 pounds with a person on it yeah, it's gonna be much heavier than a wooden table no, it's, yeah, I would say it'd be
Josh:heavier but yeah, yeah that's crazy yeah, we're talking 10 times the weight, right.
Jamey:She got some power. That's even more frightening.
Aleca:Well, the fact that she can talk, quote scripture, mimic, you know, like all the things.
Josh:Yeah.
Aleca:So perhaps one of the most famous tales involved Andrew Jackson the president. The future president, andrew Jackson. He heard about the Bell Witch and decided to investigate. So he rolled up with his soldiers and wagons. But as they neared the Bell property, the wagon wheels locked tight. The horses couldn't budge, men couldn't budge it. Jackson cursed and kicked. The horses couldn't budge, men couldn't budge it. Jackson cursed and kicked. Then a ghostly voice drifted from nowhere saying I'll see you tonight. Jackson supposedly cried out by the Eternal.
Jamey:this must be the Bell Witch. Sounds like a play, Right.
Aleca:A disembodied voice answered with laughter. The wheel suddenly released and the group continued. That night. One of the jackson's men bragged that he was a witch tamer. Okay, what is a witch tamer?
Josh:I'm a witch whisperer he's got gravy in his shoe it's a rue in his shoe.
Jamey:I got a rue in his shoe he's got a rue.
Josh:I got a rue. In my shoe I'm gonna tame this witch.
Aleca:I'm the witch whisperer so this witch tamer, boasting about his silver bullet that he carried. The witch called this bluff. All night he was slapped, pinched and thrown from his bed until he begged for mercy by morning. Jackson said I'd rather fight the British than the Bell Witch. And they left.
Jamey:Oh my.
Josh:Well, I mean, think about it In that avenue right, like if you're fighting at least an army, you can see them Right and you can know what you're going after, 100% this thing. You can't see.
Jamey:No, it's just going to slap you like a doll all night long and you're not going to be able to see it coming.
Josh:And you're not going to know from which direction.
Jamey:Where is his roo now, huh. Where's his rue now huh. Where's that room? Your shoe, how's that working?
Aleca:for you, oh my gosh. Now john bell himself was always the witch's number one target. She called him old jack. She cursed him day and night, and by this time the town even noticed something was wrong with john.
Aleca:He was normally very engaged. When he would talk with people, he would make eye contact with them and stay focused and engaged. But soon they noticed that when people would talk to him, his eyes would suddenly gloss over and his jaw would go slack and he would look like he was starting to stare off in the distance. Then his face would start to twitch and at first these twitches were pretty minor, just around his eyes, but after a while it would become much worse and where his jaw would start to quiver up and down and his eyes would begin blinking out of sync. Then, as soon as the twitching and blinking would stop, without a word with who he was talking with, he would turn around and walk off to his home. He would go straight up to his bedroom, sit on his bed for hours just staring at the wall. He wouldn't eat, drink or say a word. So that makes you wonder what was going on in his head while that was happening.
Jamey:Also side note it sounds like me when Josh talks about code.
Aleca:Your eyes start twitching she does. Your jaw starts quivering back and forth, I go slack jaw.
Jamey:I just turn around, my eyes gloss over.
Josh:She just walks away.
Jamey:I walk away, go up and sit on the edge of the bed. Stare at the wall.
Josh:And this is why I don't talk about work at home, even though I work from home.
Aleca:This is why you leave the work in the basement, that's right.
Jamey:I leave it in the dungeon.
Aleca:His health began to fail. He suffered tremors, trouble swallowing, seizures, and some thought it was a stroke. The witch claimed it was her doing, and by this point the hauntings had been going on for three years. That would be exhausting.
Josh:Oh so exhausting, Exhausting. He'd probably get not a ton of sleep in that entire time, isn't it kind of like?
Jamey:oppression though? Oh, so, exhausting, Exhausting He'd probably get not a ton of sleep in that entire time. Isn't it kind of like oppression though? Oh yeah, Doesn't it sound like that's what he's kind of going through?
Josh:is because this.
Jamey:It's finally taken its toll, and he just like there's a disconnect.
Aleca:I mean, how would you not be?
Jamey:Well, exactly, I'm surprised it took that long, yeah, honestly.
Aleca:It's a pretty strong fight honestly, it's pretty strong fight, no kidding. Yeah. So john was only getting worse and the amount of time that john was spending on his bed staring and not eating would go longer and longer and longer. One night in private, john was talking to lucy, his wife, and he told her that he believed that this thing was going to torture him to death.
Aleca:Like I don't blame him, that would be really tough, yeah yeah one night, as john was getting sicker and sicker, their daughter, esther, was outside to gather the eggs from the chicken coop across the road that was still on their property. As she was walking, she heard someone moving behind her and as she turned around she saw a woman dressed in all black, with her head down, walking slowly down the road. She was on towards her house, walking exactly where esther had just come from, but she'd never saw her. She didn't worry about it and just thought it was just a woman from town, even though she didn't recognize her. So she turned and walked the rest of the way back to the coop and gathered the eggs. And when she was done and walking back on that same road, this time facing her home, she still saw that same woman slowly walking with their head down, this time closer to her home. As she was walking, she's looking around to try to figure out who this woman was. As she got closer, she recognized that it was someone from town, so she yelled out hello. But this woman acted like she never even heard her. She didn't turn around or even react to Esther. So Esther picked up her pace and got a little closer. She continued to yell hello how are you. But the woman never reacted, just slowly walked closer to her house. Esther looked around and no one else was in sight. It was just her and the woman in black.
Aleca:After Esther was about 15 feet away from the woman, she started to feel really uncomfortable. Feel really uncomfortable. Esther stops walking and just watches her, but from the moment she stops, the woman also stopped Her back, still facing the ground. Instantly the woman started running her fingers through her hair like she was trying to comb it out. Esther started to wonder what the heck she was doing. So she started to walk closer to her. But each step Esther took, the woman was running her hands faster and faster through her hair. But as she got closer, esther was horrified realizing that she wasn't just combing her hair, she was grabbing chunks of her hair and ripping it out. Esther would actually hear the hair being ripped from her head. Within just moments there was hair laying all over the ground around the woman. Esther gets freaked out at this point and takes off running around the woman without looking at her and goes straight into the house and locks the door.
Jamey:Okay, that would freak me out yeah, well, not only that, but just the sound of the hair tearing out of your scalp Like ripping fabric or something you know.
Josh:Yeah, yeah. Nope Well and the fact that pulling out a hair hurts. Yeah, ripping out giant chunks has got to be excruciating, and this person is just doing it over and, over and over again.
Aleca:And fast.
Josh:Yeah.
Aleca:Ugh, no, over again and fast. Yeah, oh no. So she runs and calls for her sister and the two of them run to the front window. They look at the road and they see her and the woman is still ripping her hair out. But this time esther makes eye contact. The moment that happened, the woman freezes with her hands still in her hair, staring at Esther. The woman is staring, slowly, takes her hands down and turns suddenly and walks to the side of the house. The girls scream and run to the side window to see if they can see where she's going. They see her climbing over the fence into the side property and behind her were now three children whom they didn't see before. Together they walk into the grove of trees that is still on their property and one by one, starting with the oldest woman first, they each climbed into their own tree. After they were all up, they turned and all looked at Esther and her sister and they all began swaying their bodies back and forth in the trees, getting the trees to sway hard left and right, horrifying the girls.
Aleca:Right then Esther's husband comes through the front door. So Esther yells at him to come and look through the window to see what these people are doing. He runs over, but he can't see the people, only the trees swing unnaturally back and forth. Esther and her sister realizes he isn't seeing what they are seeing and they freak out and start screaming. Meanwhile Esther's husband is trying to figure out what the heck is going on. The three of them run out the door to the side to confront the woman and the kids and whatever is happening in these trees. But when they got to the side to confront the woman and the kids and whatever is happening in these trees, but when they got to the grove, no one was there. The woman and children were gone and the trees were no longer moving. They looked around no tracks, no children, no women. Do you see this pattern?
Josh:that's just creepy terrifying well, the fact that one, two people saw this woman do it woman standing there and ripping out her hair like this, is like something visual and like action wise it's super unnatural. Yeah, it's not something you're gonna see anybody doing well then you got three kids that appear out of nowhere and follow her into the trees. That's just honestly like. This is nightmare fuel in itself. This is like a horror movie.
Aleca:And what sucks is you always want your spouse to see what you're seeing Right, or to experience what you're seeing Right, or to experience what you're experiencing Validation. So that they can, yeah, have validation or have like empathy towards, like the situation Absolutely. I mean, at least he could see the trees moving back and forth, right, but he couldn't see the cause of it. But he couldn't see the cause.
Josh:No, yeah, it's still creepy.
Aleca:So a month later, john was walking out on the farm with his son and John suddenly starts to glaze over and his body starts to contort in weird angles and his back starts to bend backwards and arch so far that it looked like his back would break. His son was freaking out and trying to pick him up and as he does it, a horrifying shriek fills the air. It's so loud that he can't even tell where it's coming from. And as fast as it started, it all stopped. John was laying on the ground and it was silent. John would look up to his son and say I don't have much time left. His son helped him up and they would walk back to the house and John went straight to bed. Okay, in my opinion, something's happening while John is experiencing this stuff.
Jamey:Right.
Aleca:Yeah, so like sleep paralysis, how you can actually see things that you may feel is going on around you. I wonder if it's something like that where he's getting information or whatever, because something is freaking him out more than just his body doing weird things Right, than just his body doing weird things Right.
Josh:Well, and the thing is he bent over backwards, but was he forced backwards? Like is there actually somebody like obviously he could see it or would be able to see, but his son wouldn't? There's something actually pushing him backwards, like actually forcing him to bend backwards.
Aleca:And see. That's what I wonder if he can see.
Jamey:And if he can like feel the toll that it's taking on his body. Well, not just that, but I mean he knows instinctually that he doesn't have much time left.
Aleca:Yeah, so a few weeks later, on december 19th 1820, john slips into a coma. The family discovers him but he's still breathing, but they couldn't wake him up. Bell jr goes to the medicine cabinet but all the meds were gone. Only a strange vial of black liquid was in the cupboard. No one knew where it had come from. They called the doctor to help john and to figure out what liquid was in this vial. The doctor came and said you need to test this on a farm animal to make sure we know what it does.
Aleca:Bell Jr found a stray cat and gave it a drop, and the cat dropped dead within minutes. At that very moment Cat's voice rang out. I fixed him, jeez. John Bell died that next morning and was buried the next day. His funeral drew the whole town, but while the mourners sang hymns, kate crackled, heckling them until the last mourner left the graveyard. The last mourner left the graveyard. So imagine dying, and not only does the ghost eventually kill you, but it crashes your dang funeral, like jeez just ruins everything with this encore performance right, terrible.
Jamey:So let me ask you this At the funeral did everybody hear it? They said they did, but I mean, yeah, that's what I was wondering. Was it stated that everybody heard it? Yes, that attended the funeral, okay, yes.
Josh:I mean, even if it wasn't everybody, if only the bells heard it, that's still bad enough.
Jamey:It's still messed up, but I was just curious if everybody heard the heckling.
Aleca:But I think at this point most of the town had been so involved that why wouldn't they Right?
Josh:Well, yeah, they all took turns sleeping at the house trying to help everybody out, and that was not going anywhere and it never stopped.
Aleca:But Lucy, the wife, would stay in that house until she passed away in 1838. So she stayed there the rest of the time. But also, it never did anything to her, no Right? So the witch or spirit, whatever you want to call it, would always take care of her anyway. But after John's death things quieted down, but kate wasn't gone for good. Neighbors would see mysterious lights flying around the bell's home and sometimes they would hear sing-song voices coming from somewhere around their property. Okay, that reminds me of um. When, oh, what's the movie? Why can I think the three witches? Hocus pocus, hocus pocus, oh my gosh. When, oh, what's the?
Josh:movie. Why can't I think the Three Witches Hocus?
Aleca:Pocus, hocus, pocus, oh my gosh, when she's flying over the little village and singing and it's just the whole town.
Josh:Oh, that's where she's singing the kids to draw the little children, yeah.
Aleca:That's what that reminds me of.
Josh:That was Bette Midler's character that did that right.
Jamey:No, no, but saying that, no, it was what's her name.
Aleca:I can tell you what other show she's on.
Jamey:Sarah Jessica Parker. Okay, it was her character.
Josh:Yes, Gotcha yeah.
Aleca:So Kate promised that she would return in seven years and, sure enough, in 1828 she reappeared, this time visiting john bell jr for weeks. Strangely, the two actually had conversations, deep talks about philosophy, the bible, even predictions about the future, including the Civil War, and then, just like that, she left again. But before she vanished, kate promised that she would come back in 107 years. That would have been in 1935. And while nothing headline-worthy happened in Adams that year, many locals swore strange knocks and voices still haunted the Bell property, whether Kate returned or not, or maybe she just never left.
Aleca:Today the big hotspot in Adams is the Bell Witch Cave that is supposedly on, that is, on their property Right. So there's nothing left of the Bell's home Right, but on the property left of the Bills' home Right. But on the property they have the cave. It's a limestone cave, which makes it even better. Yup, and it's near the old farm. Tour guides love to say that the witch retreated there when she wasn't busy terrorizing the family, and visitors claim to hear voices, footsteps and even feel hands that shoved them inside. Some historians think that John Bell was poisoned with arsenic. Others think Betsy, overwhelmed by stress, could have been the source of the poltergeist activity could have been the source of the poltergeist activity. There is a book that M V Ingram wrote in 1894 called An Authentic History of the Bill Witch. Skeptics thought that it made people's imagination worse, but believers will tell you, too many people saw it, too many people heard it, and you don't get a legend this strong without something behind it, and I would have to agree with that.
Josh:I would yeah it's not just going to get made up out of nowhere I mean, yeah, it'd be tough to get a whole town involved on a on a hoax oh yeah, really like you could get a couple people, you could get a two or three families involved, but you're talking about an entire town, you're talking about the church, that's there. Yeah, that's really tough, I mean, unless the whole church, unless the whole town was conspiring to kill them.
Aleca:In which they succeeded. Well, yeah, that's the case for at least John Bell.
Jamey:But what was the gain by doing that though?
Josh:Well, right, exactly Because she stayed on the property until her death. So it's not like the property changed hands. No, no. So none of it makes. That part doesn't make any sense to be a hoax.
Aleca:But but I mean the possibilities of it being a poltergeist. That could also be, but at the same time, if it's following you around, is that poltergeist activity?
Josh:no, not usually Honestly. This screams demonic, oh for sure, but it screams almost Satan level demonic. Like high, like high power. Yeah, just because one the power of everything but the mocking of the scripture. The force on that part right.
Josh:And like the heckling and the hings and all that Right, exactly right, yeah, because here's the interesting thing, when you think about it, right, no-transcript? And the fact that it was calling them out and they were trying to sing hymns even the church leaders went in right and even they got beat back. It really screams at the fact that they didn't have any faith, that their faith was.
Aleca:Well, he was actually a priest.
Josh:Well, right, but it doesn't mean you have faith, right, right. It doesn't mean your faith is strong, um, and so it's a very interesting concept in that Avenue. When you look at it in that, in that light, I see where you're coming from, yeah, and so that's why I think it's like one. It's demonic too that it's high level demonic Like we've. We've come across what claim to be demons or of those things, right, which are very low level right things like family tree and it's not a common thing that we come across and it's not a common thing, right
Josh:but it's pretty rare but they're also not like this no right, no Right.
Jamey:No, nothing like that.
Josh:I mean and this is way, way stronger, we're talking, you know, freezing wagon wheels on the whim.
Jamey:Lifting the carts.
Aleca:Lifting carts Like this is like the no joke stuff, yeah, but yeah, I just yeah it it's that stuff's terrifying well, it makes me wonder if one of the kids wasn't welcoming it in, because I've gone to tons of houses and investigated homes where parents are fed up with what's going on in their house. It could be anywhere from messing with the temperature or killing their fish tank, or making noises at night banging on the doors, feeling like they're being followed all the time, things knocking over. You know things like that and we'll come to find out. Their kid has a freaking Ouija board they've been playing with Right. You know what I mean.
Josh:Right.
Aleca:Or is it something where Go ahead.
Josh:What if it's her? What if it's his wife, lucy? She's the only one that was never affected. In fact, it treated her well With kindness, yeah, yeah. So what are you doing, like going off the premises that this is something demonic, right? Something very evil, right? What are you doing to have an evil spirit bring you food?
Aleca:When you're sick. When you're sick, good, I mean, if we're going that direction, it could be doing her bidding.
Jamey:Well, yeah, well, exactly question yeah so like like did she call it? Right interesting something to think about. I know I am thinking about it. That's why I kind of went silent.
Aleca:We're like wait a minute hold on, because I'm thinking like I mean that's that's the case, then she wants her husband dead. Why would she want her husband dead?
Josh:she's got a thousand acres, yeah, that she's got to take care of now yeah, but let's go off of, let's go off the time of year, time of.
Aleca:Pioneer Times Pioneer.
Josh:Times 1800s. One women have no rights. Two even in church homes right.
Aleca:Yeah.
Josh:Men tended to be more oppressive right, More authoritative.
Aleca:Right.
Josh:And so what if she's like?
Jamey:look, I'm tired of this crap.
Josh:Yeah, you're treating me like garbage.
Aleca:I've popped out nine kids. Yeah, right.
Josh:I have wrecked myself for you, dude, and you just don't care, and she could just be done with it.
Aleca:Yeah.
Josh:And you know, because it didn't say like, because if you think, think about it right. Yeah, it came back seven years later, went to the oldest son. The junior didn't attack him, just had a conversation with him yeah so everything was everything evil and nasty, happened to the husband happened to him well, but also it did happen to Betsy, so Betsy was one of the daughters. Yeah, true, but it didn't keep up. After he died, though.
Aleca:No, but listen, check this out. Okay, so Betsy is dating this guy. Maybe mom doesn't like this guy.
Jamey:Oh, yeah, because it subsided after he after they broke off the engagement.
Aleca:Yeah, we might have something on this.
Jamey:We need to take a look at mom.
Aleca:So that is the story of the Bell Witch.
Jamey:That was pretty good.
Josh:Yeah.
Jamey:That was fun.
Josh:I mean, it is a well-known.
Jamey:It is Like I'm sure a lot of people, especially paranormal lovers, have heard of this. Yeah, but maybe not in the same detail and depth as this yeah.
Aleca:Yeah, I tried to make it go from storyline, as if it like not jumping around.
Jamey:I tried to go in order as much as possible.
Josh:Here's the thing that stinks. Two years ago, we drove through Tennessee.
Aleca:What you didn't want to go to the limestone cave.
Jamey:I didn't even know that it was there, we didn't realize that was a whirlwind trip.
Josh:It was a whirlwind trip.
Jamey:There was no way that was happening.
Josh:No.
Jamey:On the way back we got sicker and dogs. So yeah, there was no way that was happening. That was the first thing from our mind, yeah.
Josh:So if we went to this area to go investigate, where would you investigate? Because my understanding is on the property where the Bell Witch Cave is located right. Yes, the house doesn't exist, but there is like foundational markings where the house was Right. Would you investigate the house area or the cave?
Aleca:For me, I would actually go for the cave because it's limestone.
Jamey:Yeah, and that kind of amplifies and helps things of a paranormal nature come through.
Josh:Sure, but if it's a limestone cave, you're probably underneath the property.
Aleca:No, it's like in a hill. Oh, it's too far down, that's right, you just walk right in a hill.
Josh:Oh, it's too far down, that's right, you just walk right in yeah. So okay.
Aleca:But I mean.
Jamey:How far is the cave from where the house used to sit?
Aleca:I don't know. I mean it's a big chunk of land, it's a thousand acres.
Jamey:Yeah, that's why I was asking.
Aleca:I don't know.
Josh:BuzzFeed went there.
Jamey:Yeah.
Josh:So if I remember correctly I think it's like I don't know maybe 150, 200 yards, if I'm remembering correctly. Then that's not far at all.
Jamey:It is not far at all yeah, so then my answer would be why not both?
Josh:Right.
Jamey:If they're that close together, why not?
Aleca:Because I bet you could get a lot of residual.
Jamey:Absolutely when the house was yeah. Yeah, I would do both.
Aleca:How cool would it be if you had one person in the limestone cave, one person at the foundation of the home, and see what you can get. Heck, yeah, see if anything would correspond.
Jamey:Yep that would be interesting I mean we'd be trying all different things, right, oh?
Josh:totally Experiments and stuff.
Jamey:Yeah, the Estes method, we could go nuts.
Josh:And as long as there's not a ton of people like it's a thousand acres, right, and I think the cave is locked, so like you have to get a special permission to go into the yeah but if, like you're out there I think nobody else is out there like you could at least do it right on the foundation area right, that would be so awesome, that'd be a lot of fun it would be a lot of fun or unless it's like personal property.
Jamey:But what probably is well, I mean, we could always ask permission.
Josh:Right.
Jamey:I mean it doesn't hurt to ask. I mean the worst they're going to say is no.
Josh:I mean they let BuzzFeed in there. I mean that's a lot.
Aleca:They probably got paid for that one though.
Josh:Well, they did, but I know BuzzFeed did it.
Jamey:Ghost Hunters did it Like they allow they price tag. Look like who knows. I got $5. I got $5. $5, one penny.
Josh:Can I just Just let me sit next to the foundation Just for a minute?
Jamey:For five minutes yeah.
Josh:How much to lick the foundation.
Jamey:Oh gross, We've gone too far we always go too far. Yeah, it gets harder and harder to find places to investigate that will let you in for a reasonable price anyway.
Josh:Yeah, paranormal tourism is a pretty big deal now.
Jamey:Yep.
Josh:But let us know what you guys think the Bell witch is. Is it just an evil spirit? Is it a human spirit?
Jamey:is it something that the wife summoned?
Aleca:is it the neighbor next door right?
Josh:yeah, is it just someone human just really messing with people?
Jamey:that, that's some talent, man.
Josh:Yeah.
Jamey:That's some serious talent to be able to do all that. It's just the neighbor, it's too much work, all right, like I would have got bored after, like you know, a week.
Aleca:I probably I'd probably get caught laughing. I guarantee I'd be get caught laughing too hard.
Jamey:Kind of like at the Stanley when we were jiggling the door handle.
Aleca:I couldn't handle it. Oh my gosh, that was so funny it was great.
Josh:So thank you everybody for listening and, as always, stay ghosty my peeps almost immediately the tax lessened, pretty sure I just said taxed.
